Player/Team AssignationsSorry for the fact that this is taking fucking ages, but hey, at least what with starting way after the World Cup Proper finished it doesn't feel like we're working to a particular deadline (other than 2022, perhaps)...
We finally have our 32 confirmed entrants (special congratulations to those who got through qualifying), all teams have been assigned as per the grid below.

Seedings based on apterous pro ranks recorded when the 48 entrants were confirmed pre-qualifying and the FIFA rankings used for the draw proper, taken on 1st December 2017.

We had one drop out (J E) whose place I offered first to Mervyn (as the highest ranked competitor to lose in the final qualifying round) and then subsequently, upon Mervyn's silence, to Tracey, who accepted the position.

Six players were unranked pre-qualifying. I re-checked their ranks after qualifying was completed, putting James and Graeme as 27th and 28th seeds. The final four players (James, Ben, Gevin, Ryan) remained unranked and take their seedings randomly.

Group DrawsThe draw for the group stage is the same as the official draw for the World Cup:

Each team will play each other team in their group once.
Top two teams in each group will progress to the knockout stage.
Tied points separated by goal difference, then goals scored, then other stuff if still required.

apterous Gameplay (for Group Stage)It's the usual AWC format of LLNLLLN Winners Only scoring (best of 1).
The score at the end of the 7 rounds is the score that goes into the group stage league tables.So if the score after 7 rounds is say, 4-4, this is a 4-4 draw - apterous no longer requires the game to be finished.